This document discusses challenges related to school-to-work transitions and implications for research. It finds that:
1) Employment gaps for young people are high and widening compared to older age groups, with many youth holding temporary contracts.
2) Completing secondary education is key but 16% of 25-34 year-olds in OECD countries still lack an upper secondary degree.
3) Vocational education's impact varies between countries, though work-study programs in some places led to better employment prospects than general programs.
2. 2
Employment gap for young people is high, and
widening (in contrast to older age groups)
Employment gap between 15-29 year-olds, not in education, and 25-59 year-olds
Employment gap, 2015 (percent ↗) Changes in the employment gap, 2006-15 (percentage points)
3. 3
On average across OECD countries, 25% of 15-24
year-olds had a fixed-term contract
Youth in temporary employment as a share of total employment in each age group (2013)
5. 16% of 25-34 year-olds do not have an upper
secondary education, but it was 24% in 2000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Korea
RussianFederation
Poland
Slovenia
CzechRepublic
SlovakRepublic
Canada
Lithuania
Israel
UnitedStates
Switzerland
Ireland
Finland
Austria
Australia
Estonia
UnitedKingdom
Germany
Latvia
France
Luxembourg
Flemishcom.
Netherlands
Hungary
EU22average
Greece
OECDaverage
NewZealand
Denmark
Chile
Sweden
Norway
Iceland
Frenchcom.*
Italy
Portugal
SaudiArabia
Colombia
Argentina
Spain
Brazil
Turkey
CostaRica
SouthAfrica
Indonesia
Mexico
India
China
Educational attainment, 25-34 years-old (2016)
Below upper secondary education Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education Tertiary education%
5
6. Completing upper secondary education is affected by
social background and migration status
Completion rate of upper secondary education by parents' educational background and students' immigrant
status (2015)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Israel United States Netherlands France Flemish com.
(Belgium)
Finland Sweden Norway
Below upper secondary (ISCED 0-2) Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary (ISCED 3-4) Tertiary (ISCED 5-8)
6
7. On average, employment rate is below 60% of 25-34
year-olds without an upper secondary education
Employment rates of 25-34 year-olds, by educational attainment and programme orientation (2016)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Lithuania
Iceland
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Switzerland
Argentina
Austria
Poland
RussianFederation
Latvia
Germany
UnitedKingdom
Belgium
Norway
Sweden
Israel
NewZealand
Brazil
France
Japan
Canada
Chile
Australia
UnitedStates
Ireland
Indonesia
OECDaverage
Denmark
Hungary
EU22average
Portugal
Colombia
Slovenia
Estonia
CostaRica
Finland
Mexico
SouthAfrica
CzechRepublic
SlovakRepublic
Spain
Korea
Turkey
Greece
Italy
SaudiArabia
Below upper secondary Vocational General or no distinction Tertiary
%
7
8. The unemployment rate of young adults who have not
attained upper secondary education is nearly twice that
for those who have
Unemployment rates of 25-34 year-olds, by educational attainment (2016)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Hungary
UnitedStates
Iceland
CzechRepublic
Netherlands
Lithuania
UnitedKingdom
Germany
Japan
Australia
NewZealand
Estonia
Russian…
Austria
Luxembourg
Switzerland
Latvia
Israel
Norway
Argentina
Sweden
Belgium
Canada
Poland
Korea
Ireland
Brazil
OECDaverage
Mexico
France
Chile
Finland
SlovakRepublic
EU22average
CostaRica
Indonesia
Denmark
Portugal
Slovenia
Colombia
SouthAfrica
Turkey
Italy
Spain
SaudiArabia
Greece
Below upper secondary Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary Tertiary
%
8
9. Employment prospects for those with below upper
secondary education have been decreasing
Trends in employment rates of 25-34 year-olds with below upper secondary education (2005 and 2016)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Iceland
Portugal
Luxembourg
Switzerland
Latvia
Sweden
Mexico
NewZealand
Argentina
CostaRica
Netherlands
Estonia
UnitedKingdom
Denmark
Norway
Spain
Korea
UnitedStates
OECDaverage
Austria
Slovenia
Canada
EU22average
Lithuania
Australia
Germany
Hungary
Turkey
Israel
Belgium
Italy
Greece
Finland
France
CzechRepublic
Poland
Ireland
SlovakRepublic
2005 2016%
9
10. 10
Compulsory education does not make a huge
difference in keeping young people in education
Percentage of the population in education, by ending age of compulsory education and age group (2015)
11. 11
The wage penalty for youth comes mainly from
underskilling
Wages and mismatch, by age group and type of mismatch
12. 12
Besides low qualifications and low skills, also
mismatch contributes to job insecurity and low wages
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
%
Field of study and qualification Qualification only Literacy and qualification Literacy and field of study Field of study only Literacy only Literacy, qualification and field of study
Total mismatch among youth (16-29) by type of mismatch, as percentage of all youth in employment
14. 14
26% of 15-19 year-olds are enrolled in vocational
programmes across OECD countries
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Ireland
Lithuania
Slovenia
SaudiArabia
Netherlands
Poland
Australia
Latvia
Belgium
CzechRepublic
Estonia
Portugal
Germany
Iceland
EU22average
Spain
Denmark
Finland
Norway
Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
France
Hungary
SlovakRepublic
UnitedKingdom
OECDaverage
Italy
RussianFederation
NewZealand
UnitedStates
Chile
Austria
Indonesia
Luxembourg
Argentina
Turkey
Canada
Brazil
Israel
China
Mexico
CostaRica
Colombia
India
ISCED 3 - General programmes ISCED 3 - Vocational programmes ISCED 3 - No breakdown Other than ISCED 3
Enrolment rates of 15-19 year-olds, by programme level and orientation (2015)
15. 15
The impact of vocational education on the young
work force differs very much across countries
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Israel
Korea
Indonesia
Chile
Sweden
Slovenia
Turkey
SlovakRepublic
Mexico
Italy
CostaRica
France
Brazil
Hungary
Austria
Lithuania
Belgium
Greece
Portugal
Estonia
OECDaverage
EU22average
Luxembourg
CzechRepublic
Netherlands
Switzerland
Spain
Germany
NewZealand
Norway
Finland
Ireland
Poland
Australia
Latvia
Canada
Denmark
%
50 year olds and older 40 to 49 year olds 30 to 39 year olds
25 to 29 year olds 20 to 24 year olds Younger than 20 years old
Share of upper secondary graduates from vocational programmes, by age group (2015)
16. 16
Completing vocational tracks with an upper secondary
qualification seems more difficult than for general tracks
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Ireland
Israel
Estonia
Flemishcom.…
Finland
NewZealand
Norway
Sweden
Average
France
Latvia
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Chile
Austria
Brazil
Portugal
Korea
Japan
SlovakRepublic
Poland
Lithuania
Greece
Average
Hungary
Spain
Mexico
Completion for general programmes by the theoretical duration
Completion for vocational programmes by the theoretical duration
True cohort Cross cohort
Cross-cohort completion for general programmes
Cross-cohort completion for vocational
programmes
Completion rate of upper secondary education by programme orientation (2015)
17. 17
Some countries have successfully developed work-
study programmes
23
60 63
70
52
28 22 6
25
12
16
24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
France Germany Austria Switzerland
Work-study programmes School-based programmes General programmes
%
Percentage of 25-34 year-olds with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education, by programme
orientation and type of vocational programmes (2015)
18. 18
Students from these programmes have better employment
prospects than those from general programmes, at least in the
beginning of their careers
40
50
60
70
80
90
25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64
Austria
Work-study programmes School-based programmes General programmes
40
50
60
70
80
90
25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64
Switzerland%
40
50
60
70
80
90
25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64
France%
40
50
60
70
80
90
25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64
Germany
%
20. 15% of 18-24 year-olds were neither in employment
nor in education or training in 2016
Percentage of 18-24 year-olds in education/not in education, employed, unemployed or inactive (2016)
0
20
40
60
80
100
Slovenia
Denmark
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Greece
Germany
Lithuania
Belgium
Spain
Switzerland
SlovakRepublic
Finland
Estonia
Portugal
Ireland
Sweden
France
Italy
Australia
OECDaverage
Iceland
Chile
Hungary
Norway
Latvia
Austria
Canada
UnitedStates
NewZealand
CostaRica
RussianFederation
Poland
UnitedKingdom
Turkey
Mexico
Colombia
Israel
In education Not in education and employed Not in education and unemployed Not in education and inactive
20
21. Percentage NEET by skills-level
PIAAC, 2012-15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
SlovakRepublic
Turkey
Greece
Spain
Ireland
England(UK)
France
NorthernIreland(UK)
Finland
Jakarta(Indonesia)
NewZealand
Lithuania
EU22average
OECDaverage
Australia
Poland
Chile
Israel
Estonia
Italy
CzechRepublic
Slovenia
Korea
Sweden
Canada
Netherlands
Norway
Austria
Germany
Denmark
UnitedStates
Singapore
RussianFederation
Flanders(Belgium)
Japan
% Level 1 or below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 or 5
21
22. Young adults with lower literacy and numeracy levels
have more difficulty transitioning into the labour market
Estonia
Finland
Japan
Canada
Denmark
Ireland
Norway
Germany
Poland
NetherlandsPortugal
Sweden Australia
Switzerland Belgium
Czech Republic
Spain
Iceland
United States
United Kingdom
Lithuania
France Italy
Hungary Israel
Greece
Slovak Republic
Chile
Mexico
Turkey
Costa Rica
Colombia
Brazil
Austria
R² = 0.641
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Literacy proficiency below Level 2 (%)
Low share of NEETs
Low share of low skilled students
High share of NEETs
High share of low skilled students
Low share of NEETs
High share of low skilled students
OECD Average
OECDAverage
High share of NEETs
Low share of low skilled students
Percentage of 15-19 year-old NEETs (2016) and percentage of 15-year-old students with low literacy skills (2015)
22
23. 23
The share of NEETs has remained relatively stable on
average across OECD countries in the past decade
Trends in the percentage of 20-24 year-old NEETs (2005 and 2016)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Turkey
Italy
Brazil
Spain
Greece
Mexico
Colombia
CostaRica
France
Portugal
Chile
Ireland
Latvia
Poland
Israel
Hungary
Finland
Russian…
Belgium
Slovak…
OECDaverage
UnitedStates
United…
Canada
Lithuania
Estonia
Austria
NewZealand
Slovenia
Australia
Czech…
Norway
Sweden
Germany
Switzerland
Japan
Luxembourg
Denmark
Netherlands
Iceland
2005 2016%
25. 25
Being out of education is associated with lower skills
Mean literacy and numeracy score, by age and education status (2012 or 2015)
26. 26
The probability of having low literacy skills, 16-29
years-olds (PIAAC, 2012)
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Write at work
Write at home
Read at work
Read at home
ICT at work
Numerical skills at work
Use of skills:
One parent foreign-born against both parents native-born
Both parents foreing-born against both parents native-born
At least one parent has attained tertiary education against neither of them
At least one parent has attained secondary education against neither of them
Native speaker against non native speaker
Native-born against foreign-born
Social background:
Tertiary education against lower secondary education or less
Upper secondary education against lower secondary education or less
Education attainment:
The probability
increases
The probability
decreases
27. Experience or time in employment has a huge impact on
labour market success and earnings, PIAAC, 2012-15
%
Estonia
Korea
CzechRepublic
Jakarta(Indonesia)
Japan
SlovakRepublic
Lithuania
Israel
Sweden
Chile
OECDaverage
Turkey
Spain
Italy
Denmark
Austria
Australia
Greece
Norway
Cyprus¹²
Ireland
England(UK)
NorthernIreland(UK)
Germany
Poland
Slovenia
UnitedStates
NewZealand
Canada
Flanders(Belgium)
France
Finland
Netherlands
Singapore
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Proficiency (literacy and numeracy) Education Field of study Experience Individualcharacteristics
27
28. Many work environments do not actively support
using skills
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Italy
Poland
Slovak Republic
Cyprus¹ ²
Czech Republic
Spain
Estonia
Flanders (Belgium)
Ireland
Average
Austria
Netherlands
Korea
Germany
Japan
Denmark
England/N. Ireland (UK)
Canada
Sweden
United States
Finland
Norway
Australia
Numeracy at Work Writing at Work Reading at Work
28
29. Or cannot be identified as ‘learning organisations’
29
31. 31
Skills gap widens when ageing
Age-by proficiency profile in numeracy in PIAAC (16-34 year-olds),
by parental educational attainment
32. 32
In most countries the skills gap by parents’
educational attainment widens between 15 and 26
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Standardised gap
15 year-olds (PISA) 26-28 year-olds (PIAAC)
Disparities in literacy between individuals with and without tertiary educated parents at the age of 15 and for 26-28 year-olds
PISA 2000 (15-year-olds) and PIAAC 2012 or 2015 (26-28 year-olds)
34. • Longitudinal studies charting the trajectories of various
youth categories in education and from education to
work
• Skills development – and the factors that impact on it –
for vulnerable youth beyond school; can skills
compensate for qualifications?
• The prospects of vocational tracks for vulnerable youth
• Impact of institutional support mechanisms during the
transition
34
Research challenges